Contrasts in Social Behavior and Personality of Children

Abstract

This research investigated the possible association between two types of social behavior and personality as measured by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Junior. Children's ages ranged from 9 to 16 yr. The first study confirmed the test's validity and reliability for 109 boys and girls and approximated the data reported for normative samples. The second study, involving a total of 232 youngsters, concerned the presumed relationship between “prosocial” and “antisocial” behavior, as reported by the referring agency, and children's self-reports (Group 1) or ratings provided by both parents (Group 2). Concordance of judges was in the .7 and .8 range. The main findings were that there might be a relationship between prosocial and between antisocial behavior of youths and the personality sphere. Prosocial subjects were rated low on Psychoticism, low on Neuroticism, and high on the Lie scale. By contrast, antisocial children scored high on Psychoticism, high on Neuroticism, and low on the Lie scale. The contrasting groups did not differ on the measure of Extraversion. The present findings are interpreted as supporting the claims for reliability and discriminant validity of the test. The findings, in part, clarify the meaning of the Psychoticism scale and also suggest a new role for the Lie scale. Possibilities for further research are discussed.